Scarlet's Story
Commentary by Tori Amos
The audio file should start automatically and repeat when finished. If it does not, please select the play button on the player to your above right. You can choose to stop or pause the song at any time. Below is a transcript of Amos's commentary on this particular track.
"Once she gets to Chicago, she's meeting up with people, mostly women, who have lost a gay friend. And in his death, she's kind of seeing what it brings out in people, and who some of these women really are. Not who she thought they were. Disillusionment can um... and in some cases she kind of knew all along that some of them... some of it didn't surprise her. But she's seeing what, again, what people are really made up of. And, you know, this isn't the outside now, this is not the enemy. The terrorists, you know, the terrorism just happened back in New York City. This is something, these were friends, acquaintances maybe, in some cases. And the betrayal is there. So the idea of betraytal, you know, there are all sorts, there are all kinds of betraytal. And I think she's trying to come to terms with that inside. The betrayal of an outside force, where then you become defensive and nationalistic, and then the betray that, wow, you're completely stripped bare because it's from the inside, it's an inside job. I really liked the idea that Scarlet takes a taxi... all the way, all the way down. Because, let's face it, the people, she doesn't want to hitch a ride with anybody she knows, are you kidding me? I kind of love the idea that all these things can happen in this stranger's car. It's always fascinated me, you know, the things that I say in taxi cabs... over the years, all over the world. So that's a little bit of my own kind of read on it. "
_______________
Amos, Tori, "Taxi Ride," Scarlet Stories, Epic Records, 2002.
"Once she gets to Chicago, she's meeting up with people, mostly women, who have lost a gay friend. And in his death, she's kind of seeing what it brings out in people, and who some of these women really are. Not who she thought they were. Disillusionment can um... and in some cases she kind of knew all along that some of them... some of it didn't surprise her. But she's seeing what, again, what people are really made up of. And, you know, this isn't the outside now, this is not the enemy. The terrorists, you know, the terrorism just happened back in New York City. This is something, these were friends, acquaintances maybe, in some cases. And the betrayal is there. So the idea of betraytal, you know, there are all sorts, there are all kinds of betraytal. And I think she's trying to come to terms with that inside. The betrayal of an outside force, where then you become defensive and nationalistic, and then the betray that, wow, you're completely stripped bare because it's from the inside, it's an inside job. I really liked the idea that Scarlet takes a taxi... all the way, all the way down. Because, let's face it, the people, she doesn't want to hitch a ride with anybody she knows, are you kidding me? I kind of love the idea that all these things can happen in this stranger's car. It's always fascinated me, you know, the things that I say in taxi cabs... over the years, all over the world. So that's a little bit of my own kind of read on it. "
_______________
Amos, Tori, "Taxi Ride," Scarlet Stories, Epic Records, 2002.
